Process of making gas.



No. 638,485. Patented Dec. 5, I899.

. M. TAYLOR.

PROCESS OF MAKING GAS.

(Application filed Feb. 1, 1899.)

(No Model.)

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MAURICE TAYLOR, OF PARIS, FRANCE.

PROCESS OF MAKING GAS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 638,485, dated December 5, 1899..

Application filed February 1, 1899. Serial No. 704,136. (No specimens.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MAURICE TAYLOR, a subject of Her Majesty the Queen of England, residing at Paris, France, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of Making Gas, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improved process of making gas; and it consists in the steps of injecting steam into a gas-generator and introducing into the steam variable proportions of air irrespective of changes in the volume of steam, the object being to produce a richer gas suitable for the operation of engines and for other purposes, as hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing the figure is a vertical section of my apparatus.

The apparatus consists of a gas-producer a, wherein the fuel is placed, such fuel being admitted through a door I) and a charging slide 0, so that the producer contains a supply of fuel sufficient for a number of hours operation and a further supply is charged in through the sliding door 0, as required. The fuel is supported by a grate formed with or secured to the cleaning-door d, which can be quickly opened and closed by means of a pivoted lever e and a screw f. The gas issues from the producer through an orifice g and pipe and passes through tubes h, surrounded by the water which is contained in a tank 11, which communicates with another tank having a float whereby the Water therein is maintained at a constant level. Under the action of the heat of the gases passing through the tubes h the water in the first-mentioned tank 71 becomes converted into vapor and passes into the furnace along with the air in proper proportion. Upon leaving the before-mentioned tubes h the gas passes bya pipe 70 into tubes, which are cooled by contact with the air or other cooling medium, the cooling-surfaces of such tubes being sufficient to eifect the complete cooling of the gas as it passes through them. On leaving the tubes Z the gas passes by a pipe into a chamber or, con taining water, the pipe n terminating a little above the surface of the Water in the chamber m, so that the gas, owing to the speed of the motion, impinges on such Water and ashes and dust contained in the gas are retained upon or in the water, while the cooled and cleansed gas passes to the engine through a suitable pipe 0. As the gas is cold when admitted into the chamber m, containing the water, the said water is not evaporated and will serve its purpose for a considerable time--- say all day. Before setting the apparatus in operation the water charged with ashes and'dust should be drawn off and a fresh charge of clean water be substituted.

An air and steam supply pipe 19 at one end opens into a jacket g, which envelops or partly envelops the lower part of the gas-producer and opens under the grate at the base of the furnace. The said pipe 19 is contracted at its upper end r. The steam under constant pressure is conveyed from the vaporizer it through the before-mentioned pipe j, the end of which is directed toward the orifice of contracted pipe 19, so that when the engine does not draw in gas from the gas-producer the steam escapes into the atmosphere through the said orifice r. Upon the contracted pipe 19 between the furnace of the gas-producer and the point Where the steam-pipej opens there is an air-inlet pipe 3, the admission of air being controlled by means of a cock t.

In the apparatus described the pressure of the steam is constant, it being precisely the pressure which is required to cause such steam to circulate through the system of pipes and to escape in proportion as it is produced. If

it were necessary that the pressure of such steam while constant should be higher than the pressure attained in the manner first stated, it will suffice to provide ordinary constant-pressure feeders in the vaporizer.

When the fire has been lighted at the: level 9 and covered over with charcoal, so as to fill the gas-producer, the engine is set in operation, the pipe of such engine, which serves to draw in gas, having first been connected with the gas-pipe 0. I will suppose the air and steam to have been mixed in the requisite proportions in the manner hereinafter described. As a result of the suction exercised by the motor, such air and steam will pass from the contracted-ended pipe 1) to beneath the grate and through the fuel in the furnace, where, in consequence of the oxygen contained in the air and of the steam coming into contact with the red-hot charge, they will become converted into a gas consisting of carbonic oxid, hydrogen, and nitrogen. The gas thus formed is conveyed to the engine through the passages g n 0, chambers hereinbefore described. While passing through the tubes 9 h in the tank 2', containing water, it will heat the water, which as it becomes vaporized supplies the steam required for the production of gas. In passing from these tubes through the passages kin, hereinbefore referred to, the gas is cooled, and on passing into the chamber m, containing cold Water, the gas gets rid of its impurities by coming in contact with the water. Lastly, the said gas proceeds through 0 to the engine in a cooled and cleansed condition.

The arrangement for regulating the proportions of the air and steam drawn in to produce gas operates as follows: As the engine operates to draw in a charge, if the air-inlet cock t be closed, all the steam is carried into the gas-producer by the air entering through the orifice r of the contracted pipe 19, so that a mixture as rich as possible in steam is drawn in. If, however, the cock t on this contracted pipe 19 be fully opened while the engine is drawing in, air enters through such cock and fills the vacuum formed in the gas-producer, While the steam, owing to its pressure, escapes through the contracted orifice 'r, so that air only is drawn into the gas-producer. If the air-inlet passage 8 for air to the contracted pipe p be throttled by means of the cock t, a draft of air through the contracted orifice will form in proportion'as such air-inlet contracts, and the current of air thus created will carry a proportionate quantity of steam along with it into the producer, such quantity being in all cases equal, given the same aperture of the cock 2%. When the exhausting action of the engine does not take place, either in consequence of the action of the regulator or because the piston is going through the other places of the cycle, the Whole of the steam will escape through the contracted orifice r and none will enter the gas-producer.

It will be understood that owing to this arrangement a mixture of air and steam in any desired proportions can be drawn into the gas-producer and that no steam can enter the gas-producer unless it be mixed with air in suitable proportion, this being an indispensable condition for maintaining in the furnace a temperature sufficiently high to insure a satisfactory decomposition of the air and steam.

From the time of drawing in the air and steam until the gas generated enters the en gine the current meets with no resistance calculated to interfere with its circulation, except that offered by the friction in the passages and that which results from the passing of the gas through the charcoal. As charcoal forms no slag, the grate never becomes clogged, and its sectional area, together with that of the spaces remaining free between the pieces of charcoal, is in all cases larger than the sectional area of the pipes through which the gas is conducted. The resistance offered to the gas as it is drawn into the engine is therefore not greater than that encountered in petroleum-carburizers, and inasmuch .as a gas-engine operates perfectly well where its working piston draws in gas into a carburizer its operation will be quite as satisfactory Where it is made to draw in a gaseous mixture through the apparatus hereinbefore described.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- In the manufacture of gas the step in the process which consists in injecting steam into the generator and introducing into the steam variable proportions of air irrespective of the changes in the volume of steam, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

MAURICE TAYLOR.

Witnesses:

EDWARD P. MAOLEAN, LEON BRONSON. 

